Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2011 11:30:09 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Spooked!
In-Reply-To: <4DE97C32.9060609@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
It is quite common for the oil pressure warning to sound during some
circumstances. It is also possible and common for the oil to get too hot,
pressure to go down, even when the water temperature is normal. Keep in mind
that the oil pressure warning buzzer is controlled by the higher pressure
switch which is located before the oil filter in the flow circuit so oil
filter brand will not fix this. This switch should be a .9 bar (12.7 psi)
and is looked at engine rpm of ~2,500. Once the buzzer sounds it will keep
sounding until that switch is satisfied or the ignition is reset.
So it went off. What to do next?
Oil viscosity and level. What are you using and are you sure it is not
overfilled.
Switch itself. Is it the correct one and they do go bad. Is the wiring
secure? Sometimes corrosion in the connector doth both switches will cause a
bad connection. The high pressure switch is turned on (closed) when pressure
is sufficient.
At some point oil pressure should be tested with a gauge. You should have a
baseline. A healthy engine should be able to maintain almost 10 psi/1,000
rpm.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Rodgers
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 8:29 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Spooked!
While driving my manual tranny 88GL home this afternoon the oil pressure
alarm sounded and the oil pressure light came on. I killed the ignition
immediately, noted all the gages seemed normal, and being very close to my
house just coasted on down the street, around the corner, and halfway up my
up-slope driveway and stopped. All the while I'm thinking "Omigosh! What
now?" ( I have an important art show to participate in on Sat. and have to
set up by 6 am -- this is not good!)
After getting stopped, I sat for a moment, the turned the ignition on.
All the lights did their normal thing. I hit the switch, the engine started
right up, oil pressure light went out. I noted no strange sounds, and the
oil pressure alarm did not sound. I drove the remaining
100 feet up the hill to the house - all was normal.
Today was extraordinarily hot - 100 plus degrees, driving was slow coming
off the highway home, and even though the temp gauge needle was in the
middle, nothing seemed wrong. I did note that at very slow speeds the fan
kept coming on frequently. I was poking along about 30 mph when the alarm
sounded and the oil pressure light came on.
I opened the hatch, and noted the engine seemed really hot. The heat just
came boiling out. I looked for oil leaking, coolant leaking, etc, but found
nothing. Oil dip stick measures halfway between the marks, and the coolant
level is up. I checked the rear oil pressure switch, and the wiring
connector, but it was tight.
I let the van sit a while with the hatch open to cool the engine, then
started it up. After Idling a minute, I revved the engine up to 3000. I ran
perfect. No lights, no alarms. I have tried several times now, but cannot
reproduce the event. Of course the circumstances have changed as the
atmosphere is cooling down.
Anybody have any ideas? Can the engine oil get so hot under normal driving
conditions as to cause low oil pressure. Surely that is not a good thing.
But how can I avoid that in the common daily summer weather here in the
South. I'm afraid this event might repeat itself at a tremendously
inopportune time - as such events usually do.
Thanks,
John
--
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com